White House Memo Says Trump Had Authority for Soleimani Attack
- White House cites Constitution, 2002 Iraq law in legal memo
- Memo to Congress doesn’t specify imminent threat Trump claimed
Mourners carry images of Soleimani during the funeral ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on Jan. 6, 2020.
Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The White House delivered its legal justification for the January airstrike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, arguing that President Donald Trump was authorized to take the action under the Constitution and 2002 legislation authorizing the Iraq war.
The Trump administration memo, which was released Friday by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, was the first official explanation of the president’s legal grounds for ordering the strike, which spiked tensions in the Middle East and pushed Washington and Tehran to the brink of war.